The oldest working telescope in Japan is a Cooke

 

With Japan in the news this month because of the Olympic Games, readers may be interested in a special link between Japan and Yorkshire to be found at the Kwasan Observatory which is part of Kyoto University.

One of the telescopes in the observatory has a lens 12 inches (30 cms) in diameter and was made by Thomas Cooke & Sons of York. The telescope was installed in 1929 and was originally used for observing the Moon and planets. Its research life is over now, but the telescope is still used for regular open evenings, allowing members of the public to see objects in the night sky.

This telescope, made in York over 90 years ago, is the oldest working telescope still in use in Japan.

Brian May and friends at the 12 inch Cooke in January 2020